PARIS (AP) — A judge in France is expected to decide Sunday whether about 300 Indian nationals suspected of being victims of human trafficking should continue to be held in isolation at a small airport in the country of Champagne.
En route to Central America, passengers have been detained at Paris-Vatry Airport since Thursday after a dramatic police operation prompted by tips about a possible human trafficking scheme, authorities said.
The passengers appeared throughout the day before a judge who will decide whether to extend their detention at the airport, according to the administration for the Marne region. If they can no longer be detained, they will be free to leave the country.
“I don’t know if this has been done before in France,” Francois Procureur, head of the Châlons-en-Champagne Bar Association, told BFM TV on Saturday.
The situation is urgent because “we cannot hold foreigners in the waiting area for more than 96 hours. Besides, the judge of liberty and custody must decide their fate,” he said.
In France, foreigners cannot be kept waiting for more than 96 hours. AP
The four-day period can be extended to eight days if the judge approves, then another eight days in exceptional circumstances.
With this importance in mind, the Prosecutor said four trials would take place simultaneously, with four judges, four clerks and at least four lawyers participating in the proceedings along with Indians and interpreters. “We are all moved,” he said.
According to a statement from the Marne region, the seizure order for the plane was lifted on Sunday morning, a decision that “allowed to contemplate passengers in the waiting area being rerouted.”
Four hearings on the fate of deported foreigners will take place simultaneously. AP
France’s Civil Aviation Authority then began trying to get the necessary permission for the plane to take off again, which should be available “by Monday morning at the latest,” according to the region. Passengers were still being questioned when the statement was released.
Passengers include children and families. The youngest is a 21-month-old child, and among the children are several unaccompanied minors, according to the local public protection agency.
Two of the passengers were detained as part of a special investigation into suspected human trafficking by organized crime groups, according to the Paris prosecutor’s office. Prosecutors would not comment on the nature of the alleged trafficking, or whether the main destination was the US, which has seen a surge of Indians cross the Mexico-US border this year.
The 15 crew members of the Legend Airlines charter flight — an unmarked A340 plane en route from Fujairah airport in the United Arab Emirates to Managua, Nicaragua — have been questioned and released, according to a lawyer for the Romania-based airline.
According to an official with the Marne administration, the passengers initially remained on the plane, surrounded by police on the runway, but were later moved to the airport’s main hall to sleep.
Legend Airlines lawyer Liliana Bakayoko said the company is cooperating with French authorities and has denied any role in possible human trafficking. He said the airline “did not commit any violations.”
A “partner” company chartering the plane is responsible for verifying each passenger’s identification documents, and delivering their passport information to the airline 48 hours before the flight, Bakayoko told The Associated Press.
The airline claims that it ”did not commit any violations.” AP
Customers have chartered several flights with Legend Airlines from Dubai to Nicaragua, and several other flights have already traveled without incident, he said. He would not identify the client, saying only that it was not a European company.
The US government has designated Nicaragua as one of several countries deemed to have failed to meet minimum standards for eliminating human trafficking.
Nicaragua has also been used as a migration springboard for people fleeing poverty or conflict in the Caribbean as well as distant countries in Africa or Asia, due to relaxed or visa-free entry requirements for some countries. Sometimes charter flights are used for travel. From there, migrants travel north by bus with the help of smugglers.
The influx of Indian migrants through Mexico has increased from less than 3,000 in 2022 to more than 11,000 from January to November this year, according to Mexico’s Immigration Agency. Indian nationals were arrested 41,770 times entering the US illegally from Mexico in the US government’s fiscal year that ended September 30, more than double the 18,308 the previous year.
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
